![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Clingan-2-Reunion-of-Sonia-center-with-Cousins-Nancy-and-Laura.jpg\")
<\/a>Reunion of Sonia (center) with cousins Nancy and Laura, August 2017<\/p><\/div>\n
One day she casually mentioned to me that she had once heard, but never seen, that her family name, which I had been searching for, Lipetz, might have been Lipevetsky. The first thing I did, as I tell all new researchers, was to go to the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF), where I promptly found three things: the correct name, the correct town (Khoshchevatoye, now part of Ukraine), and a researcher who turned out to be her third cousin! It was an absolute lock: Laura Nelson\u2019s great-grandfather, Max Lipevetsky, was headed on his ship passenger manifest to his brother, Sonia Lipetz\u2019 great-grandfather, Mordechai, in Newark!<\/p>\n
Another match: Sonia\u2019s brother\u2019s DNA was a close match to a hitherto unidentified \u201cMr. Nelson.\u201d Laura\u2019s sister, Susan, lives in the same city as Sonia; Laura came from California, and the three newly minted second cousins had a \u201creunion\u201d in August.<\/p>\n
January 2018
\nDedham, Massachusetts, USA<\/p>\n
\n
Research Notes and Hints<\/h4>\n
Carol demonstrates how JewishGenners often help each other in our research. She met with success when she searched on a variation of Sonia\u2019s surname. As our ancestors emigrated, individuals from the same family sometimes adopted different versions of their surnames, so this is an important factor to keep in mind when searching for old records and family connections.<\/p>\n
Through JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF)<\/strong>, Carol found not only the correct name of the town, but also connected with previously unknown cousins of Sonia. If you haven\u2019t yet listed your ancestral towns and surnames on JGFF, we encourage you to do so. Locating the ship passenger manifest was key to confirming the relationship. Manifests can be found at the Ellis Island Foundation<\/strong> website https:\/\/www.libertyellisfoundation.org\/passenger <\/a>or via links on various genealogy websites.<\/p>\n See the Khoshchevatoye Yizkor Book Necrology<\/strong> for a list of those residents who died in the Holocaust: https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/yizkor\/Khoshchevatoye\/Khoshchevatoye.html#TOC<\/a><\/p>\n JewishGen\u2019s Ukraine Special Interest Group (SIG)<\/strong> has a page of information regarding Khoshchevatoye, as well as various projects pertaining to the town.
\nhttps:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jgff\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/ukraine\/GEO_town.asp?id=239<\/a><\/p>\n